Journal
JOURNAL OF GLACIOLOGY
Volume 59, Issue 214, Pages 287-302Publisher
CAMBRIDGE UNIV PRESS
DOI: 10.3189/2013JoG12J108
Keywords
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Funding
- Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC)
- International Polar Year (IPY) Special Research Opportunity (SRO)
- Dr S.M. Blair Research Graduate Scholarship
- Steve and Elaine Antoniuk Graduate Scholarship in Arctic Research
- Queen Elizabeth II Graduate Scholarship (Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research, University of Alberta)
- Canadian Circumpolar Institute and Northern Scientific Training Program (Department of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada)
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Marine-terminating glaciers may experience seasonal and short-term flow variations, which can impact rates of ice flux through the glacier terminus. We explore the relationship between variability in the flow of a large tidewater glacier (Belcher Glacier, Nunavut, Canada), the seasonal cycle of surface meltwater production and the rapid drainage of supraglacial lakes. We demonstrate a novel method for analyzing time-lapse photography to quantify lake area change rates (a proxy for net filling and drainage rates) and develop a typology of lake drainage styles. GPS records of ice motion reveal four flow acceleration events which can be linked to lake drainage events discovered in the time-lapse photography. These events are superimposed on a longer pattern of velocity variation that is linked to seasonal variation in surface melting. At the terminus of the glacier, the ice displacement associated with the lake drainage events constitutes similar to 10% of the seasonally accelerated displacement or 0.4% of the total annual ice displacement (336 m a(-1)). While the immediate ice response to these individual perturbations may be small, these drainage events may enhance overall seasonal acceleration by opening and/or sustaining meltwater conduits to the glacier bed.
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